Outis Onoma wrote:UCLA, because you want LA and your parents are paying your way. Are you okay with making less coming out of law school than you would as an engineer?

If you had to pay your own way, I wouldn't go to either. WUSTL isn't likely to get you to LA, and if you miss out on biglaw at UCLA, you would be screwed. The employment prospects are pretty similar out of both schools, with UCLA placing a bit more in big law. http://www.lstscorereports.com/compare/ucla/washu/ I imagine far more people get completely fucked over coming out of UCLA than WUSTL because of the debt. If you don't get big law out of UCLA, you aren't going to be able to pay off that debt. But it's okay to miss biglaw out of WUSTL if you have a full tuition scholarship.

i'm better at law than engineering. I know this because I have drafted multiple patents for my research innovations as an undergrad at UCLA. UCLA OIP pretty much filed all of them for me with virtually no changes in the writing. Even though many/most end up hating it, I like writing patents because I like to see how others translate their technologies into claims during lit searches among other things.

also, bioengineering (my major) has a terrible job market. There are bioE jobs, but most companies would rather hire an EE, MechE, and ChemE than even an accredited bioE. The major is just too new and jack-of-all tradesish. Even with a masters/phD, the job market is pretty bad. A lot of job reqs at companies like johnson&johnson straight up require advanced degrees but also 8year industry experience. Theres kind of a catch22 in this case, how can you get industry experience when most the jobs require you to have it already.

I have tons of friends who do get into industry but 1) fuck getting a job through a co-op and 2) pretty much all of them do mundane tasks thats even more lame than the research projects we did as undergrads

whatever happens, whether i get into biglaw or strike out, I'll still be making money on the side doing freelance jobs with my engineering skills. I can code, machine, CAD, COMSOL, etc etc.

Outis Onoma wrote:UCLA, because you want LA and your parents are paying your way. Are you okay with making less coming out of law school than you would as an engineer?

If you had to pay your own way, I wouldn't go to either. WUSTL isn't likely to get you to LA, and if you miss out on biglaw at UCLA, you would be screwed. The employment prospects are pretty similar out of both schools, with UCLA placing a bit more in big law. http://www.lstscorereports.com/compare/ucla/washu/ I imagine far more people get completely fucked over coming out of UCLA than WUSTL because of the debt. If you don't get big law out of UCLA, you aren't going to be able to pay off that debt. But it's okay to miss biglaw out of WUSTL if you have a full tuition scholarship.

i'm better at law than engineering. I know this because I have drafted multiple patents for my research innovations as an undergrad at UCLA. UCLA OIP pretty much filed all of them for me with virtually no changes in the writing. Even though many/most end up hating it, I like writing patents because I like to see how others translate their technologies into claims during lit searches among other things.

also, bioengineering (my major) has a terrible job market. There are bioE jobs, but most companies would rather hire an EE, MechE, and ChemE than even an accredited bioE. The major is just too new and jack-of-all tradesish. Even with a masters/phD, the job market is pretty bad. A lot of job reqs at companies like johnson&johnson straight up require advanced degrees but also 8year industry experience. Theres kind of a catch22 in this case, how can you get industry experience when most the jobs require you to have it already.

I have tons of friends who do get into industry but 1) fuck getting a job through a co-op and 2) pretty much all of them do mundane tasks thats even more lame than the research projects we did as undergrads

whatever happens, whether i get into biglaw or strike out, I'll still be making money on the side doing freelance jobs with my engineering skills. I can code, machine, CAD, COMSOL, etc etc.

With an IP background, you do have a better shot at getting Big Law than most. Add this to the fact that UCLA has pretty good Big Law + fed clerkship numbers to begin with, and I think you have a high probability of finding success.

Also, if you are willing to practice somewhere other than SoCal, your UCLA degree will hold much more value over the long term of your career than WashU would and will give you more flexibility. This is because UCLA has great brand recognition.